From 13th of November until the 18th of December 2021, the gallery Mémoire de l'Avenir presents Inhabited by Fear, the latest photography project by Italian artist Riccarda Montenero.
"Fear never leaves us: as children or adults, we are constantly inhabited by it. Fear is a dark, deep and powerful feeling because of its capacity to shape subjectivities and even common feelings." RM
This state, a result of many causes, affects both cognitive processes and social representations. Whether it is the result of a threat to one's physical or psychological integrity, the consequence of a collective frenzy, or manipulation, linked to a particular subject, the hold of fear can produce segregative behaviours, violence, and conformist postures that are submissive to authority, says Denise Jodelet, a specialist in social representations. She continues: "This should not prevent us from looking into its potential for resistance and innovation of citizens (...). This requires strength of ideas, representations and imaginaries that give form and substance to alternative visions." 1
It is precisely this process that is at the heart of Riccardo Montenero's work: to create places of resistance through the strength of visual proposals. Places of resistance to the violence and rejection, recurrent subjects in her work, that "vulnerable" people might endure. By choosing them as models, Montenero makes the processes of violence they are confronted with visible, without ever putting them in a position of victims and to highlight their strength.
This work shows the body of an elderly person who, who through her gestures embodies the forms of fear she is subject to and her defiance of it. Between folds and tensions, this project evolves through five series: Gestures of fear, the Desire that breaks, Mutism of the word, the Body’s panic and the Law of the fist.
This subdivision responds first of all to the artist's need to stage fear through the plurality of its aspects, both physical and mental, which she enacts by working on through colour prints, and also in black and white, in a three-dimensional space.
This sequencing further allows her to develop a narrative that inscribes the gesture in time, and also to anchor the spectator's mind in a scenario, so that they engage in a confrontation with their own fears.
Riccarda Montenero asked the director Teresa Scotto di Vettimo to delve into her work. Consequently, she presents the short film Dressed by Fear: Vision of an Ordinary Visitor, performed by Laurent Borel in collaboration with Riccarda Montenero.
In the context of this exhibition, the performance Alpha Bêta Sarah, based on the novel by Constance Chlore, will be presented on 11 December at 6pm, with the dancer David Pisani the pop singer Rosie not Rosie, a sound creation by Romain Pangaud and a reading by Constance Chlore. On a backdrop of domestic violence, this performance develops around Ernest's luminous dream of learning to fly like a bird.
The book of the project will be available for sale during the exhibition and for signing on the evening of the opening on Friday 12 November. Published by Impremix, 2021, it includes the artist's entire photographic project with texts by Christian Gattinoni, Isabelle de Maison Rouge, Roberto Mutti and Teresa Scotto di Vettimo.
The entire exhibition and performance will be presented at the International Philosophy Day on 18 November 2021, broadcast online by UNESCO.
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1 Jodelet, Denise. « Dynamiques sociales et formes de la peur », Nouvelle revue de psychosociologie, vol. 12, no. 2, 2011, pp. 239-256.
https://www.cairn.info/revue-nouvelle-revue-de-psychosociologie-2011-2-page-239.htm
Dressed by fear
A film written and directed by Teresa Scotto di Vettimo,
interpreted by Laurent Borel actor and with the participation of the artist Riccarda Montenero.
The film is presented in dialogue with the photographs of Riccarda Montenero during the exhibition.
A visitor comes to the photographic exhibition Inhabited by Fear. While looking at the images, he experiences a real hallucination to the point of believing that he himself is the object of a visit....
Duration: 7 min
Interpretation: Laurent Borel
Filming and lighting assistant: Maxime Bruyère
Sound design: Jean Pham
Photography of the set: Brigitte Cano
Teresa Scotto di Vettimo is a graduate architect in Italy. For some years now, she has been exploring other fields of expression and has trained as a director. She writes and directs short films and engaged documentaries.
SHORT FILM
La loi du poing - 2020
Mutisme du mot - 2020
Panique du corps - 2020
Le désir qui se brise - 2020
Gestes de la peur - 2020
Saturday 11 December 2021 at 6pm
Alpha Bêta Sarah
based on the novel by Constance Chlore
Reading-performance on extracts from the novel "Alpha Bêta Sarah" by Constance Chlore (published by Le Nouvel Attila, 2020)
Text and voice: Constance Chlore
Song: Rosie not Rosie
Dance: David Pisani
Sound design: Romain Pangaud
Video: Constance Chlore, David Pisani Constance Chlore, David Pisani and Romain Pangaud
This performance is based on Constance Chlore's latest work Alpha Bêta Sarah (published in 2020 by Le Nouvel Attila) which, against a backdrop of intra-family violence, unfolds around Ernest's luminous dream of learning to fly like a bird.
Running time: 45 minutes
Born in Brussels (Belgium) in 1967, Constance Chlore lives in Paris.
"Alpha Bêta Sarah" is her third novel. She has also published "Nicolas jambes tordues", published by La Fosse aux ours and "A Tâtons sans bâton", published by Punctum. She regularly publishes her poems in magazines.
PERFORMANCE
ARTWORKS
13.11-18.12.2021
RICCARDA MONTENERO
Inhabited by fear
For any questions about the exhibition, do not hesitate to contact us by email at contact@memoire-a-venir.org
or by phone at 09 51 17 18 75
OPEN FROM
Tuesday to Saturday 11am-7pm
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